2 Samuel 1:7 kjv
And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I.
2 Samuel 1:7 nkjv
Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, 'Here I am.'
2 Samuel 1:7 niv
When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, 'What can I do?'
2 Samuel 1:7 esv
And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, 'Here I am.'
2 Samuel 1:7 nlt
When he turned and saw me, he cried out for me to come to him. 'How can I help?' I asked him.
2 Samuel 1 7 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ex 17:14 | "Write this as a memorial... that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek..." | Divine decree against Amalekites, establishing perpetual enmity. |
| Deut 25:17-19 | "Remember what Amalek did to you... you shall blot out the memory of Amalek..." | Reiterates the command for Israel to eradicate Amalek due to their attack. |
| Num 24:20 | "Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he perish forever." | Balaam's prophecy forecasting Amalek's eventual destruction. |
| 1 Sam 15:2-3 | "Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them..." | God's explicit command to Saul concerning the Amalekites. |
| 1 Sam 15:7-9 | "And Saul defeated the Amalekites... but Saul and the people spared Agag..." | Saul's disobedience in not completely destroying the Amalekites and their king Agag. |
| 1 Sam 28:18 | "Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not execute his fierce wrath on Amalek..." | Samuel's indictment of Saul's failure regarding Amalek. |
| Judg 6:3 | "...when Israel had sown, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up..." | Amalekites' consistent harassment of Israel throughout history. |
| 1 Chr 1:44 | "And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom... after the kings reigned over the people of Israel." | Shows Amalek's broader context, descendants of Esau. |
| Gen 32:27 | "And he said to him, 'What is your name?' And he said, 'Jacob.'" | Example of identity being questioned in a significant encounter. |
| Judg 13:6 | "Then the woman came and told her husband, 'A man of God came to me... I did not ask him where he was from...'" | Contrast; identity sometimes not questioned in a significant encounter. |
| 2 Sam 1:8 | "And he said to me, 'Who are you?' I answered, 'I am an Amalekite.'" (The immediately following verse) | Direct continuation of the reported exchange, emphasizing the identity. |
| Acts 9:5 | "And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.'" | Example of crucial identity revelation during a pivotal encounter. |
| Prov 12:17 | "Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness practices deceit." | Relates to the Amalekite's general character as a deceiver. |
| Prov 19:5 | "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape." | Speaks to the fate of those who bear false testimony. |
| 1 Sam 31:1-6 | "Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled... Saul fell on his sword." | The true account of Saul's death, highlighting the Amalekite's lie. |
| 1 Chr 10:1-6 | "The Philistines fought against Israel... Saul took his own sword and fell upon it." | Parallel account of Saul's death, confirming he died by his own hand. |
| 2 Sam 4:10 | "when someone told me, 'Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him..." | David's reaction to news bearers, showing his immediate, firm response to perceived regicide. |
| 2 Tim 3:16 | "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof..." | The Amalekite's story, though false, serves as a point of divine teaching and reproof for Saul's line. |
| Num 14:45 | "Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and struck them..." | Reminder of Amalek's early attacks on Israel's journey to the Promised Land. |
| Gal 6:7 | "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." | Saul's past failure regarding Amalek is ironically highlighted by an Amalekite, reflecting divine principle. |
2 Samuel 1 verses
2 Samuel 1 7 Meaning
2 Samuel 1:7 captures a pivotal moment within the Amalekite's fabricated narrative to David, where the dying King Saul questions the identity of his discoverer. The verse records the Amalekite's response: "I am an Amalekite." This declaration of identity is rich with irony and tragic significance, as it brings to mind Saul's primary failure in obeying God's command to utterly destroy this very people (1 Samuel 15). Within the false testimony, this encounter sets the stage for the Amalekite's audacious claim to have killed the king, intending to gain favor with David.
2 Samuel 1 7 Context
Verse 7 of 2 Samuel chapter 1 is part of a dramatic narrative where an Amalekite approaches David, bringing the crown and armlet of Saul, claiming to have found Saul dying on Mount Gilboa after the devastating battle against the Philistines. The Amalekite, a survivor from the battlefield, falsely asserts that he delivered the killing blow to Saul, fulfilling Saul's own desperate request. This specific verse (1:7) depicts Saul's supposed interaction with this Amalekite. It portrays Saul, in his final moments, questioning the identity of the person who found him, to which the Amalekite (in his recounted story) replies, "I am an Amalekite." This exchange, whether true or not (the larger narrative suggests the Amalekite is fabricating much of his story to gain David's favor), is highly significant. Historically and biblically, the Amalekites were sworn enemies of Israel, whom God had commanded Saul to utterly destroy (1 Sam 15), a command Saul famously failed to execute fully. This makes the Amalekite's declaration of identity deeply ironic and foregrounds a past failure of Saul, tragically resurfacing at the very end of his life (or at least, in the reported circumstances of his death). The broader chapter records David's profound grief and swift judgment on the Amalekite, not for the truth of his words but for touching "the Lord's anointed."
2 Samuel 1 7 Word analysis
- And (וַיֹּאמֶר֙ - vayyōmer): A common narrative conjunction in Hebrew, indicating sequential action. It connects this line of dialogue to the previous events described by the Amalekite.
- he said to me (אֵלַ֔י - ʾelay): Within the Amalekite's reported speech, "he" refers to Saul, and "me" refers to the Amalekite. It presents the scene as direct interaction.
- Who are you? (מִֽי־אַתָּ֑ה - mî-ʾattâ): This is Saul's question in his purported dying moments. It is a direct inquiry for identity, reflecting the dire circumstances. For a dying king, knowing the identity of his discoverer or potential killer would be paramount. The choice of address for an "anonymous" rescuer or final encounter would typically involve an identity check.
- And I answered him (וָאֹ֖מֶר לֽוֹ - wāʾōmer lō): The Amalekite's self-reported response. This standard Hebrew construction marks the immediate reply.
- I am (אָֽנֹכִי - ʾānōḵî): This is the strong, independent first-person singular pronoun. Emphatic and declarative. It sets up the revelation of his ethnic origin with certainty.
- an Amalekite (עֲמָלֵקִ֖י - ʿămālēqî): The crux of the verse. This national/ethnic identification carries immense biblical weight. The Amalekites were:
- Descendants of Esau (Gen 36:12).
- The first to attack Israel after their exodus from Egypt (Ex 17:8-16), leading to a divine curse and eternal enmity.
- Perpetual harassers of Israel throughout the period of Judges (e.g., Judg 3:13, 6:3).
- The specific nation Saul was commanded by God to utterly destroy for their past actions against Israel (1 Sam 15:2-3). Saul's partial obedience in this regard led to his rejection as king (1 Sam 15:23).
- Thus, an Amalekite's presence near a dying Saul is deeply ironic, symbolic of Saul's primary failure and ultimate demise, a potent illustration of how unresolved sin can, directly or indirectly, haunt one's final moments.
2 Samuel 1 7 Bonus section
The Amalekite's decision to identify himself, within his story, is a bold rhetorical move. It either reveals his own arrogance and assumption that David would welcome the death of his rival king at the hands of a common enemy, or it's a strategic miscalculation on his part, not fully understanding David's profound respect for "the Lord's anointed." The dramatic irony of an Amalekite finding Saul is palpable: the people Saul failed to eradicate ultimately, in this man's story, claim the grim privilege of finishing off Israel's first king. This verse also serves to underscore the consistent biblical theme of the consequence of disobedience; though the account is false, its very premise – an Amalekite encounter with Saul – resonates with Saul's defining spiritual failure. The identity of the Amalekite implicitly asks the question of divine retribution or cosmic justice playing out in the drama.
2 Samuel 1 7 Commentary
2 Samuel 1:7 is a terse yet profoundly significant line in the Amalekite's narrative, serving as a bitter echo of King Saul's past. The Amalekite, aiming to curry favor with David, relays a fictionalized encounter with the dying Saul. In this fabricated account, Saul asks, "Who are you?" to which the Amalekite responds with his shocking identity: "I am an Amalekite." This self-identification, true or not in the Amalekite's real persona (but certainly a feature of his recounted story), acts as a tragic postscript to Saul's reign. It underscores his fundamental failure to obey God's command to utterly destroy this people group (1 Samuel 15), a disobedience that led to the LORD rejecting him as king. To imagine a king who was removed for failing to purge Amalek, now supposedly meeting his end at the hands of one of them, presents a powerful divine judgment, where past disobedient actions seemingly return to confront the transgressor at his final breath. While the Amalekite's story is fabricated to appeal to David, this detail cleverly uses the historical backdrop of Saul's relationship with the Amalekites to lend a perverse credibility and dramatic flair to his false testimony, ultimately sealings his own doom when David executes him for presuming to lay hands on God's anointed king.